Eternal
by CrazyRach
Summary: Crossover between St.T's & Byzantium. Kelly and Eleanor Jones have a secret. A code they live by. But can they keep it? Or will their past finally catch up with them? Eventual Kel/Belle and other pairings. Rated M for adult content and poss triggers.
1. Prologue

I've had a few names in my life; Clara. Camilla. Claire.

Clara was my original name, brushed into my being with a loving kiss bestowed upon me by my mother the day I was brought into this harsh cruel world. Since then I have learnt pain. And evil. I have become it. But I am not bound by it. My life is dictated by me, and me alone. I bow to no one yet all fall before me. As they should.

I was once the innocent bastard of a penniless fisherman. Lonely, abandoned, naive. My mother died ten years into my life, leaving me behind to fend for myself. I worked on the beaches, fixing nets and collecting half rotted offerings the pitying fishermen threw me. That all changed the day the men on the horses came. And I have never been the same since. I am not as I once was. I have become polluted and dark. Foul. Like poison itself to those around me. But I do not regret my transformation. It saved my life and secured that of my daughter, Eleanor.

We used to be innocent and normal. Just like you. We used to have hearts that danced in our chests and smiles unbroken by sadness and pain. We used to feel the world shift around us with happy smiles when it made us dizzy with it's mischief. Feeling strong and safe in the arms of our new life as it reunited us and bound us together. But that was a very long time ago. My mistake ruined that for us.

And so now we travel. Running. Always running. From our past. From our future. Always a new place. Always somewhere different, remote. Lost. Just the two of us bound eternally to keep going. We never notice the world changing and transforming around us. Too busy fleeing for our lives to concentrate on today while we escape yesterday for tomorrow. And it has changed. Yet we stay the same.

We have a secret. A code we live by. And we must keep it.


	2. A New Home

_(England 1973) _

"I do not think this is the right place mother"

"Oi that's Clara now" Eleanor rolled her eyes at me, "I mean it. No more mother business"

"Don't treat me like a child and I might treat you like a sister" I smiled, she got her cheek from me alright.

"Enough of the gob or I'll smack it off your face"

"I'm so scared" She shut up the second I shot her that old no bullshit look of mine.

Her eyes drifted away from the ground and up towards the gothic building. She'd first laughed when she saw it, giving me that knowing smile. It was once a mansion, built around the same time as my life as Clara. Not that that was the reason why I'd chosen it. But Eleanor didn't know that. So I didn't correct her.

"I hardly think a girl's school is the right place for us. You barely pass as an eighteen year old"

"Barely is enough" I countered with a smirk she sighed at, "Don't be so uptight. If you'd seen any of those girls in there you'd know I'd fit right in. Now stop moping and get going"

I gave her a gentle push and started walking up the stoney drive. It wasn't long before she was following me. It was the unsure child in her, driving her to follow mother's protection.

We were halfway to the door, laughing about how the gargoyles on the roof looked remarkably like the old innkeeper who had sheltered us before his "untimely" death, when a massive explosion went off behind us, swiftly followed by a crew of screaming girls. Eleanor had leapt into my side the second she'd heard it and was now stood with her face pressed firmly into my neck, hands balled up and quivering on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and soothed her, knowing the nightmarish memories praying on her.

"Hush love, c'mon. It's just a little explosion" She shook violently and I started to sing for her, slowly starting to walk forward again with her clinging onto me. It was an old song. One my mother had sung to me before she died, and one I'd sung to Eleanor every night since the day I went back for her. It calmed her, the sound of my voice. Made her feel safe. As a mother's presence should.

She sighed to herself after a while, annoyed she'd let herself be won over by such irrational fear and slowly released her grip on me. I simply smiled and wrapped an arm over her shoulder, walking close for comfort while appearing like her older sister.

"You honestly believe we will blend in here?" I gave her an easy smile and leant down to her ear

"Of course. Just trust me"

I gave her a gentle squeeze before removing arm and walking separately to her. It was clear from the auror the school unleashed what the girls inside were thinking. Like us they worked on fear. Cut out the weak to make better use of the strong. Like I did. Only on a less plutonic level. I could feel Eleanor watching me but I ignored her. We had to remain strong if we wanted to survive.

I walked up the stone steps, impatient that she was taking her time to timidly look around behind me, and strutted confidently up to the reception desk, giving the old bloke sat behind it a bright smile.

"Good morning, and welcome to St. Trinians. How may I be of help today ladies?"

"We're here to see the headmistress" I said brightly. He gave me a slightly dazed smile before picking up his pen and opening a book on his desk.

"And your names?"

Eleanor walked up behind me, fingers brushing mine in her usual plea to keep her name. I looked down at him and bent forward on the desk, smiling back at the little tot sat playing with a wooden toy sword on the floor beside the man.

"Claudia. My name is Claudia Jones" The name felt so natural and I smiled, another life to create. He jotted it down and looked over my shoulder at my daughter. She was looking at me beggingly and I sighed

"Don't mind her. She's a shy one my sister. This is Eleanor Jones" He smiled at her

"No need to be frightened dear" he told her soothingly. I bit back a laugh and nodded

"Exactly what I said"

"Well if you'll follow me, we'll get you acquainted with Miss Fritton"

"Smashing" I hooked an arm around Eleanor's neck and started to walk after him, smiling at the little boy again as he ran around us pretending to fight off invisible villains with his sword.

"He's an handsome little fella" I said pointing at him as he skipped around Eleanor's feet. The boy grinned up at me and took my hand.

"I'm Harry!" I smiled down at him.

"Nice to meet you Harry"

"They should call you Flash, the way you run about" Eleanor added shaking the young boy's hand. His smile widened.

"Do you want to play hide and seek with me?" She looked back at me unsure and I quickly stepped in

"Not now honey, Eleanor has to meet Miss Fritton. Maybe afterwards yeah?"

Eleanor looked ready to kill me. She loved children but playing hide and seek in a school full of strangers was pushing it way over the line. Harry nodded eagerly and skipped ahead of us giggling manically. Eleanor cut me a furious glare as soon as he was gone

"Are you serious?!"

"Oh chill out El" I sighed.

"Moth..Clar..argh! Claudia please, I'm begging you"

"And I'm not listening" I replied shortly, subtly speeding up with my walk to avoid her next glare.

I slowed back into a lazy stroll when I reached the receptionist, smiling when he sighed at his son's gleeful screams. I loved watching children laugh and play, maybe because I'd missed out on watching Eleanor growing up as a child. It was all so innocent and pure. childhood really was the sweetest moment in a persons life. and i should know, I've watched plenty of the turn once they hit adulthood

We walked up a set of stairs, hands grasping the old worn bannister like the thousands of girls before us. I smiled as I ran my finger along it. This school had never met anything like us before.

"Don't drag your feet sis" I called back to her, softly mussing Harry's hair when he stopped long enough to hug my waist, "The headmistress won't be at all pleased"

She muttered under her breath so silent the receptionist didn't hear, but I could. I have her a stern reproachful look over my shoulder and nodded her over. She grumbled some more before walking up to us, too fast for an average pace, luckily no one but me saw it. I slapped her hand when she slowed down beside me

"Trying to get us out before we've settled in?!" I hissed at her

"Maybe. It would be the easier way to save them all from you" she whispered back, calm and blunt as ever. I rolled my eyes. Talk about over exaggerating!

"I'll save it for when I get bored" I shot back, letting my voice dip with that old ruthless sarcasm that warned her against pushing me. I watched her swallow her angry reply and smirked a little as she shoved past me.

The receptionist stopped by a door halfway down the corridor. He rapt on it and shyly opened the door to exchange a few short words with the headmistress, words that weren't lost on my sensitive hearing

"Two new girls Miss Fritton"

_"We're not expecting anyone this term"_

"They say you asked them here today" he replied nervously. I smiled.

_"Send them in. I wish to see the girls who would put lies in my mouth for me"_

I laughed under my breath and Eleanor sighed. The receptionist stumbled back into the corridor and looked back at us still stood by the stairs.

"The headmistress will see you now" he looked back at his son and scowled, "Come along Harold"

"But I wanna stay!" he wailed skidding to a stop between Eleanor and I and reaching for our hands.

His wrist brushed my pinkie and I felt that warm tingle rush up into the back if my throat, jaw already aching while I swallowed the urge to act on impulse. Eleanor's hand gently knocked his away and squeezed my wrist.

"Don't" she said it soft but sharply, trying to snap me out of it. I started walking again.

"I won't" I muttered, forcing myself into acting normal again. Harry didn't notice a thing and reached instead for Eleanor's wrist when mine swung away. I rolled my eyes when I saw the same reaction run through her before turning away fuming. I'd been at this longer than her yet her restraint quadrupled mine to no end. Like she was born to resist temptation.

I stopped beside the man and gave him another dazzling smile he fumbled to reply to before entering the office. Eyes just grazing over the old plaque attached to the door before settling on a frail figure sat haunched in the dark reading her mail. I heard Eleanor slip in behind me and click the door shut. I looked back at my daughter and gave her a strong look.

"Don't" I mouthed pointing down at her hand.

She tucked it into her pocket and looked away from the woman she'd been staring hungrily at, knowing just as well as I how frail and old she was, how riddled with aches and pains. Knowing how much she wished she could be rid of it. She was the perfect person for Eleanor's sympathetic and merciful tastes.

She locked eyes with me and I read the hunger rushing around inside of her as it dilated her pupils into a sharp dark circle around her blue irises. I pressed a hand to her heart.

"Steady love" she nodded and stepped back, distancing herself from the woman.

I turned back when the sounds of paper shuffling snapped into a soft slap onto wood before she the headmistress out a long tired sigh. I smiled and cracked my neck, feeling the strange power course through me.

"Time to get to work El" I whispered walking up to the woman and leaning down to her.

"So you two believe you can swan your way into my school and.." She looked up and locked eyes with me, mouth opening slightly under the intensity burning in mine. Eleanor locked the door behind us and a smile twitched on my mouth.

"We have a proposition for you Miss"


	3. Introductions

2006. What a boring year. Same old things going on and on and on. We'd been here too long. Walked the halls too many times, spoken to and manipulated too many people. It was becoming a chore. And I hated dirtying my hands with work.

Eleanor had fast become what the girls here call a "St Trinian", something they held dearly as a test of stamina and loyalty. She'd gotten so good at passing these tests. Not surprising considering how long we'd been here. But even though her original fears and nervousness had faded away, she was still shy. She was still timid. She was still so human. Like them. And it pissed me off. But not as much as my business plan had angered her.

"Again?! Why is it we can never move somewhere without you involving yourself in such degrading work?!"

She'd shouted herself hoarse at me on the roof, letting years worth of anger bleed into her voice as she screamed. I'd laughed. It was the same fight we had every time we relocated.

"Because we need money," I'd pointed out, "The school needs money and it gets the job done quick without any questions asked. We do this and this place has a regular income..."

"It's disgusting!"

"It's not harming you"

"No but it is affecting those girls you're manipulating into doing it!"

Eventually she'd backed down under my reasoning and I won the argument. Just like I always did. And now the school was nice and backed with a healthy supply of money, kept running by my quick thinking. Something she couldn't complain about when it saved us from having to move on.

The old headmistress, the one we'd first met when we came here, had died years ago, happily followed by her niece Camilla. She seemed like a nice enough woman. Maybe a little wild but who was I to judge? She must be a tiny bit senile though. She'd made me head girl not too long ago after all, something that made Eleanor groan continuously. For what 221 year old becomes head girl of a girls school?

As far as anyone was aware Claudia and Eleanor jones had left school many years ago. Moving on from their lives at st trinians for a couple of decades before sending their two girls to attend here. Nobody questioned whether we were related to the old Joneses. Apparently Kelly and Eleanor Jnr were near on exact replicas of their mothers, the right spitting image of them. They'd even arrived together on st trinians' doorstep the same age as their relatives had. Almost as if it were the old women themselves repeating their lives over.

The naivety of humans really did amaze me. They were willing to overlook everything so long as it didn't affect their preciously short lives. I can never remember myself being that way. But then I'd never had the chance to live as a human.

"Kelly?" I fell out of my bitter musings and turned to smile at my favourite geek as she and my '_cousin_' walked up onto the roof.

"Pol"

"We need to talk"

I leant against a chimney and gave them an impatient smile, already knowing what this was about. The charge in the air practically screamed it at me.

"We're not leaving yet" I sighed

"Why must you be so stubborn?!" Eleanor cried throwing her hands up in anger. I chuckled

"Temper darling"

"Kelly she has a point. You two were here decades before you made me immortal. How many more are you intending on turning?"

My eyes drifted over the fields surrounding the school, thoughtfully lost.

"I don't know Polly. Depends if they all taste as good as you did" She rolled her eyes but smiled, probably remembering the day I'd accidentally slipped up and bit her.

"It is forbidden!" Eleanor snarled. I snapped my eyes back to her

"Do not talk to me so reproachfully child. I am still your mother"

"Then start acting like it!"

"What do you think I'm doing?! Do you think we're here on bloody holiday?! Our secret is sacred Eleanor! The less people who know the better" Her eyes drifted meaningfully back to the geek and I sighed defeated,

"I was selfish involving Polly I know. But I was already damned when I turned myself, and I condemned us all when I changed you both too. We must stay hidden"

"A school is hardly.." I glared at Polly and she backed down

"Whose in charge here?" They both sighed, "Exactly. Just shut up and get out of my face"

Eleanor threw her hands up and stormed off the roof, muttering loudly to herself as she slammed the door shut behind us. I sighed and kicked an empty vodka bottle off the roof, watching it spiral down to earth before shattering on the stoney drive below. Polly stepped up beside me, giving me a small smirk when I looked back at her. I felt myself smile back despite still being angry with her for siding with Eleanor

"You shouldn't encourage her" I said

"And you shouldn't ignore her. She's been 16 for two centuries kel, don't forget she's not an actual child"

"She is to me"

"Then maybe you need to rethink your view of her"

I turned around to her, eyebrows raised challengingly. She simply shrugged, showing me once again why I'd shown her how to change. Smart, quick, cunning. Three aspects I loved in humans. And being from this century she knew a lot about everything modern, so we could adapt more fluidly. Necessity. That's what had first come to mind when I changed her. Now it was more companionship. Polly was my friend, regardless of the massive 'age' gap.

I nodded at her. She was right. Eleanor was 216. I couldn't keep treating her like the little girl I still wished her to be. The world had changed her too much. Ripped her innocence away like it had mine, leaving it to wear down to a tiny thin crust that cracked a little more with every passing day.

"We'll leave after this year," I conceded with a sigh "It'll be stupid going before these lives we're imitating have left school"

"No one will question our disappearance once we're gone. Plenty of girls never come back" she agreed, smiling at my decision.

I shrugged uncaring, it wouldn't be that easy and i knew it, but it would keep them happy. And a happy pair of forever adolescent vampires was much safer to handle than the volatile one I'd had to deal for most of my existence.

I sighed again before turning to look out at school drive, frowning at the car driving up to us. I pointed out at it.

"Who's that?"

"Judging by the way he can't drive, I'd say its Miss Fritton's brother"

"Carnaby?" She blinked, surprised at the bite in my tone

"You know him?" I nodded, feeling that old pit of disgust come up at the mention of his name. Oh I knew him alright.

"Only too well. 'Scuse me Pol" I stepped around her perplexed expression and followed the ghost of Eleanor's heavy footsteps down into the main school, ears straining to find her voice in all the madness.

* * *

"A'right kel?" I glanced down at Tara and tania and smiled

"You ain't seen that bloody cousin of mine have you girls? She owes me some money" They frowned and looked around the dorm, both raising their hands and pointing

"Over there kel" they said together, giggling a little when I mussed their hair

"Cheers girls" I left them by the door and waded through the fighting emo's and chav's to the eco area where Eleanor liked to sit and relax, often sharing time lost anecdotes with the tribe leader, Celia.

"We've got a problem" Both of them snapped their eyes up to my face, mild intrigue in Celia's while an immediate worried burn met Eleanor's.

"Whatsup kel?" I rolled my eyes at the eco, what was so hard about separating words? This new form of talking was so lazy

"Miss Fritton's brother has come to visit" Celia immediately grinned and leapt off her hammock

"I'll set the first years up with paintballs then.."

"No. Leave him be. We need to find out why he's here before we damage anything" She groaned and walked off disappointed, quickly spreading on the news.

Eleanor stood up and took my wrist, swiftly leading me away from the dorm into my own privet room

"Why has he come?" She whispered, shutting the door behind us

"I'm not sure honey. But I need you to stay here" She glared at me, "I mean it Eleanor. Stay here where I know you're safe"

"He wouldn't possibly..."

"You think? He's been after us for a while now El. Even a school of girls wont stop him. We don't need that kind of trouble here"

"It's his sister's school!"

"That will hardly stop him!" I hissed back pulling her away from the door when she tried to block me. Her hand caught my wrist again and she stared up at me

"Be careful" I smiled at her and kissed her head

"Always am _cuz_" She rolled her eyes

"Please let me choose the family relation next time" I arched an eyebrow at her and gave her a thoughtful smile

"And what would you have me be then?"

"The long lost aunt who can't deal with the fact that she's old"

"Oh you are such a cynic! Might like to fix that for the next century sweetie, if Celia's lot are anything to go by the world will be a completely happy dope filled place"

"Over my dead body"

"Not much of a threat Eleanor" I sniggered opening the door and stepping out on her moody scowl. I stopped halfway out the door and pointed back at her

"Stay here" She rolled her eyes, "I mean it Eleanor. Don't make me get Polly down here because you know I will"

"Yes mum, alright mum, can you please bugger off now mum?"

"One of these days you might thank me for everything I do for you.."

"I highly doubt it. Get going before you miss out on the spying"

I sighed and slipped out into the corridor, locking the door behind me just in case. I didn't trust her not to sneak down. And I felt bad about that. But I had to keep her safe. I stopped by the dorm again and assigned the twins to keep an eye out on my room. They'd simply nodded and set up deck chairs either side of it, hockey sticks at the ready. I laughed a little to myself at that and started to walk downstairs, stopping short on the third floor when I heard someone following me.

"You need to work on your sleuthing Polly" I smirked to myself when she sighed and appeared at my side in an instant, looking around to make sure nobody had seen her

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Everybody has their own unique footstep. It doesn't take a genius to remember which one sounds like who"

She frowned to herself, locking the information away in her brilliant mind for later. I nudged her elbow and nodded down the next set of stairs, stopping on the second step when she failed to follow

"Well come on then, you were obviously asking for an invite" She shrugged and happily skipped down beside me, using her vampiric grace to make it look so agile and perfect. Like a dancer mid flow. I gave her a meaningful look and she immediately slowed herself down to the painful pace all humans walked at.

"I hate this speed. It feels so lazy" she grumbled. I laughed

"Not so long ago you lived in this speed!"

"Don't remind me. So this bloke, miss Fritton's brother, who exactly..."

"A very bad guy" She frowned again, "He's part of the order, the brotherhood. The one hunting us. I might have accidentally killed a friend of his a while back.."

"Which friend?" Her eyes had narrowed throughout my evasive explanation, like she knew the answer anyway

"uh..Savella.." Her eyes grew wide and she stopped me

"You're saying carnaby is a vampire?!" I snorted

"He wishes! Can you imagine the world with that being like us?! I think I'd stake myself"

"As if stakes work anyway" she muttered while I grinned at her, "So why the over protectiveness with Eleanor? Surely if he's human.."

"He can't know she exists. Or you for that matter. He'll tell his buddies and have you both destroyed"

"And you?"

"I fear my punishment would be a thousand times worse than death" We both stared off into space, both thinking about the terrible things I could undergo. Savella had tried to grant me a swift execution before when it'd been a simple matter of me breaking the rules. Now I'd killed two of their own and defied them by creating Polly? I didn't want to think about the torture they'd put me through. It's what kept me running away. But I knew whatever the punishment, if it came to it, I'd willingly take it for my girls. They were both worth the torture.

"So why is he not a vampire?" Polly snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked back at her intrigued smile, smiling a little myself at her ever relentless thirst for knowledge.

"You need the map" I said simply, sliding down the banister and landing at the bottom of the stairs with a happy smirk. She walked down after me with a thoughtful grin

"You still have it don't you?"

"Thing with those idiotic men is they give the map to the next vampire they want to create. They don't bother with spares because they remember it all"

"But..?"

"But how do you explain the way to a simple human you don't want to take there yourself?" She grinned at me

"You really are something Kelly"

"I like to think so. Now do me a favor and walk down there" Her eyes followed my order down the stairs before she frowned back at me

"You said he couldn't see me"

"He won't even look at you, you're too human"

"Thanks?" I pushed her forward impatiently

"Just do it, I need to know whose with him"

She nodded and crept silently down the stairs while I leant against the bannister rail and peered over the edge, listening hard for his sickly voice to enter the hall. I was surprised beyond belief at the feminine voice that drifted up towards me instead. Who was that?

"Annabelle Fritton" I jumped and scowled at polly. She smirked

"Guess my sleuthing just got a whole lot better"

"Shut up. What did you find out?"

"She's starting here today" Well that was news to me! I frowned and looked up the stairs towards the headmistress' office.

"Why didn't Camilla say anything?" Polly shrugged

"Obviously thought it'd be a lovely surprise for you"

I rolled my eyes and started to walk away, letting Annabelle's timid voice follow me out down the stairs. Polly followed, still smirking to herself while I silenced my steps and slipped over the bannister. She copied me and we both landed gracefully and silently beside the entrance hall, nicely concealed by the stairs. I pointed to the room beside us and she nodded, quickly inching around the bannister and slipping inside. I slowly followed, taking my time to slip inside the room while my eyes raked over the new girl.

"Alrig' kel? You got tha' druggy look abou' cha. 'Ope you ain't le' tha'goth near ya with her meth shit" I glared back at Taylor and pointed out the door

"Go" She sighed and stood up, stretching herself out before bending down to the table for her phone.

"You still got that laptop in here Pol?" No answer, "Pol?"

I glanced up at polly and quickly stepped out over to her, arm subtly snaking around her waist, restraining her while her eyes stared at Taylor's exposed neck.

"Get a move on Taylor for christs sake!"

She muttered a cuss at me before walking out, missing the sharp lunge forward polly took after her.

"And shut the door!" I called out after her. Taylor was either ignoring me or she'd already plugged her iPod in. Either way the door stayed open.

I sighed and let go of polly, dodging around her pursuit of Taylor and clicking the door shut before she could get to it. I caught her again when she tried to pull me away, desperately hungry to get to the chav

"You need to calm down polly!"

"I'm fucking hungry kel! She shouldn't be walking around when she smells like that!" I bit back a laugh, it always amused me how the blood of a completely irrespective and stupid chav sang out to a mastermind geek like her. It was just too ironic.

"Calm. Down" I pushed her back and pinned her to the nearest sofa, sitting on top of her when she tried to stand again. I caught and trapped both of her hands in my left one while I yanked her tie loose and tied her hands together with it.

"C'mon Polly, breathe" she looked up at me and nodded, taking long deep breaths while forcing herself to relax under my grip.

"How do you do this kel? I can barely walk through a corridor without thinking about biting one of them!"

I pulled her forward into me, letting my unearthly scent overrule Taylor's lingering one. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smoothed her hair down while she rested her cheek against my shoulder, a motherly embrace. Typical.

"If you remember correctly I didn't handle it well" she laughed

"Still hurts where you bloody bit me"

I smirked and looked down at her neck, the faint crescent scar of my teeth was still recognisable under her pale skin. I smiled and kissed it before sighing. I missed how warm she used to feel, and the way I could feel her heart pound when I touched her. Now she was just another body. Another life I'd selfishly taken for my own gain. Another soul I'd damned.

"It gets easier with time pol. Just try not to pounce on them anymore though. There's only so many times you can persuade people it never happened"

"Sure"

"I mean it pol. I might not be there next time. You could kill someone"

"I understand kel" I looked down at her, measuring the honesty in her voice before nodding and letting her go. I could trust her. I had to.

"Feeling okay now or shall I just leave you tied up?"

"Let's avoid a repeat of last time" I pouted at her

"You loved being tied to my bed"

"For 16 hours?! I don't think so Jones!" she raised her hands, "Please?"

"Fine" I slipped off her and let them loose and she ripped the tie off, flexing her wrists out before staring wistfully at the door.

"Still hungry?" I asked rolling my shirt sleeve up

"Famished" she sighed looking back at me with a sharp frown when she realised what I was doing. Polly caught my right wrist and looked up at me

"Don't"

"You said you were hungry"

"I am but not like that"

"'Fraid you'll hurt me?" I teased pulling my bracelet off and tucking it into my shirt pocket. She eyed my wrist, trying to persuade herself against it. But she wouldn't be able to do it. Not if she was as hungry as she looked.

I sank back on the sofa and pulled her back against me, wrapping my arm around her neck and gently kissing her head before raising my left arm. Her hands gripped my wrist and she brushed her mouth against the veins in it before biting down. I clenched my jaw against the pain and watched her drink, feeling her lips twist a little at the taste. I couldn't blame her. Vampire blood was nothing as nice as that of a human. To each other we tasted too bland. To a human pure ecstasy. But it was sustaining enough. We could go a few days on another vampire's blood before needing to feed again. And in a place like this that was essential.

I stopped her when I started to feel the ache giving blood made start to burn through my arm.

"Calm it down pol, I'm not made of blood" she sighed and moved her mouth away, looking down at my bleeding arm with a regretful sad smile.

I kissed her head again and stroked her cheek, knowing she hated doing that to me. I didn't care. She was my friend, a surrogate sister to Eleanor, our family. As a mother I couldn't bear seeing her starve. As a fellow vampire I sympathised with her. I'd felt that burning hunger way too many times in my existence. It was too much to take and sent a vamp on a feeding massacre afterwards. I would know, I must have killed hundreds of entire villages in the last two centuries after forcing myself off blood. It made me admire my Eleanor for her impressive willpower when it came to this cursed side of our lives.

"Feeling better?" I asked, watching her pick her tie up off the table, twisting it in her fingers. She nodded but I wasn't entirely convinced.

"You can say if you want more" I said, gently raising my wrist to her again. She shook her head and pushed my hand away, refusing to look at it.

"We've got work to do" Her voice was rushed, constrained. Like she was using all her energy trying to keep it level. I sighed

"Pol.."

"Nope, c'mon!" She bent down to me and wrapped her tie around my wrist, knotting it tight to stop the blood flow. Not that it mattered, we healed fairly fast. But it'd cover up the cut and smudged blood I guess. I stood up and smiled at her, flexing my wrist out while her eyes followed it.

"You've gotten better at that" I told her laughing when she groaned annoyed. I nudged her with my elbow

"That's a good thing pol" I whispered giving her a sly wink, "Set up some CCTV in Camilla's office will you? I wanna know what they're going to talk about"

She nodded and I started to walk towards the door, flattening my shirt out and wiping the smudge of red off my fingers onto my skirt. I opened the door and leant against it, looking up at the stairs just as the head mistress sailed down it with a tinkle of laughter and a sarcastic comment for her slimy brother. I should have been watching him. Should have listened to what they were talking about. But as soon as I leant up against the door and crossed my arms my gaze was stolen by the girl, Annabelle.

* * *

She was across the hall from me but i could smell her from here, hear her nervous heart pounding in her chest, taste her scent on my tongue, feel the little waves of heat rolling out of her anxious body. And it was a pretty nice body. Tall and elegant, athletic. Beautiful. I wondered if her soul was just as angelic with a father like him. She was wondering around on the spot, lingering in the entrance like she was half hoping they would be leaving pretty soon. Her eyes darted everywhere. Taking in the strange trophy cases full of shrunken heads before looking up at her estranged aunt then back at her father as if to ask whether he was being serious about her enrolment here. I smirked, she was weak. Easily dealt with.

"And you must be my lolly lolly niece annabelle!" Miss Fritton blocked the girl from sight momentarily and I found myself standing straight to get a good view again.

Carnaby smiled happily at the two, pretending to actually care about his only family. But I could see the boredom peering out in his fake smile. His eagerness to be slip away from their little reunion to hunt us down was too easily marked in the way his eyes kept drifting around. Stupid prick. If he had half the brains the brotherhood thought he had he'd have looked around and spotted me already. It relieved me to know he was still a self centred moron. It meant we were safe. For now.

"Kel there's a problem upstairs" I looked back at Polly's whisper and met her concerned frown as she looked down at her laptop screen

"What problem?" I asked distracted by the sounds of the Frittons wandering off up the stairs. I walked back into the room and settled beside her, looking down at the camera feed she was watching

"An Andrea and Taylor sized problem" she sighed wincing a little when the fighting girls crashed into the totty lounge, knocking Chelsea and her assistants out of the way as they crashed into a dressing table. We both froze on the spot when Andrea managed to pull Taylor off and wiped the blood off her forehead.

"Get uh.." I couldn't think. All I could see and taste was blood. Polly looked like she was having the same problem

"Yeah...?" She said dreamily staring at it run down Andrea's cheek as she flew at Taylor

"Get the.. uh.. the..tw..ins...twins! Get the twins to send some first years to break it up" I snapped myself into focus and smacked her shoulder. She jumped and nodded. I watched the cctv while she rang Tara.

"Sorted. They're sending Emily and jazz" I grinned, they were the ruthless ones. Almost as good as the twins themselves. It didn't take long for them to get down there, and it gave us something to laugh at.

"Right c'mon, Fritton's office" she nodded and clicked off onto another feed.

"What're they saying?" I asked frowning at the serious confrontational look on the two adult Frittons. Polly frowned before relaying their speech. I smiled at her, her lip reading was just impressive.

"Something about money..I think it's her scholarship"

"He's asking for a discount" I shook my head with disgust. What a creep!

"Looks like it"

We both watched the two elder Fritton's exchange a few more prices before agreeing on less than half the school fees. What a tight arse?! Why did Camilla let him in like that? Was she that eager to see her niece in this place that she'd give the education away? It made no sense to me

"They're coming back down" polly said looking over at the door when the sounds of their easy steps reached us. I nodded and stood up

"Time to play the part" I sighed and rolled my neck, trying up rid myself of the annoying stress building in my shoulders. Polly smirked and stood up beside me. She tightened the tie around my wrist some more and smiled up at me

"Off you pop kel" I rolled my eyes and tilted my head at her, smirking a little as I ran my thumb over the corner of her mouth, wiping the blood away from it

"Your table manners are atrocious pol" I joked running my thumb over her lips and smearing the blood over them, making them look even more appealing than usual. I bent forward and kissed her, tasting the odd flavour of my blood on her mouth before she licked it away and kissed me back.

"Again?" She asked gasping a little when my hands wandered down her back. I nodded with a groan before pulling away from her with a lustful ache burning inside of me. Blood hunger mixing with another hunger completely. She smiled sympathetically and nodded

"Okay. But don't you think you should just go get some..."

"No. I promised Eleanor. No more killing. I won't break her trust in me again"

"Kel you haven't killed anyone yet. Doing this you're only starving yourself. You know what happens when you do that"

"Polly you've only seen me do that once.."

"And became the consequence of that mistake! Kel you can't substitute feeding with sex. It doesn't work that way"

I was about to tell her to shut up, that being two centuries older than her I did know what I was doing, when a car starting up outside drew our attention back to the Frittons. Polly laughed under her breath when I frowned at the door

"See how distracted you get when you fail to look after yourself?"

"Hmm.." I started to walk to the door, turning back with my hand on the doorknob, "good thing I have you to see to my needs then"

She rolled her eyes and picked up her laptop

"I'll see you later jones" she slipped out of the door ahead of me, slowly brushing past me with a slight smirk when she had to step right up into my space to open the door. My smile brushed hers a little while my hand came up to catch the door

"Yeah, you will"

She took a quick look around before stepping out into the corridor and whisking down the basement stairs. My ears followed her almost silent steps until she opened and shut a door downstairs.

"Stop listening to me" I heard her mutter under her breath as she sat down with her laptop. I laughed and pulled my attention back to the reception area the new girl had just walked back into

"Excuse me, but where am I supposed to go?" She asked Beverly, turning away annoyed when the hungover receptionist ignored her.

I watched her pick up her belongings and walk to the stairs, completely missing me stood in the doorway. Must be a Fritton thing. A soft rumbling from upstairs cued the end of lesson as classrooms of girls began making their way around school. Annabelle was looking up the stairs nervously, like she expected it to explode. I smirked and watched her surprise melt into a pretty little shy smile while she took a brave step forward

"Not yet" I whispered to myself wincing a little when the stairs flooded with bodies and girl upon girl knocked into her. I could hear polly sniggering to herself downstairs, probably watching it all on CCTV.

"Going to dive in and save her jones?" She asked. I stomped on the floor as a reply, glad the noise of the other girls muted it out while polly laughed some more

"Haven't you got your girls to watch?" I muttered back. She groaned and I heard the faint snap of her laptop shutting, "And try to stay away from Taylor"

"Yes Kelly, now get on with your own stuff"

I rolled my eyes back to the new girl and smiled. Besides looking a little battered she was still standing. That was a good sign. Maybe she had some hope after all. I leant against the door again, letting my right arm dangle over my hip in a way that usually sent humans falling to their knees with praise. I waited until polly's steps had faded out of my hearing range before quietly clearing my throat

"Your old man's roller looks like its seen better days" She span around at the sound of my voice and her eyes widened a little when she caught sight of me leant lazily against the door. I held in my smirk and started to walk towards her, slowly, predatory, like a vampire in a human body. Like me.

Her lips parted a tiny bit and she let out a silent sharp breath that sent her heart racing. I almost paused at the sound if it. It was so fast! Like a hummingbird. I'd never had a reaction quite like that before. My eyes grazed over her face, taking in her breathtaking features before resting on her eyes, following the hints of blue in the green and gold haze. She was talking, saying something about Carnaby owning a gallery. I wasn't paying attention. I was much too busy looking her over.

"I'm...annabelle. Miss Fritton's niece?" I did smirk then, and stepped into her space.

"I'll have somebody come fetch your bags" A little too sarcastic maybe, but she needed to learn her place here. Connections didn't play well at all. That threw her back into her normal self.

"Im sorry, I didn't catch your name" oh rude, cocky! Nice! I could use that around here. I stepped right into her space and threw her a bright smile, one that widened when I heard her heart pick up again

" Kelly jones, I'm head girl" I could feel my eyes pull down to her throat and snapped them back, focusing on that disbelieving stare of hers, instead of that pounding pulse in her neck that was begging to be ripped out. I had to wrap this up quick, I could feel the hunger burning in my throat, like a fire that wouldn't go out no matter how many times I discreetly swallowed down the impulse to lean over and bite.

"Really?" She scoffed, breathing out onto me. I froze. She smelt so good! My mouth ached just thinking about how nice she'd taste. I gritted my teeth and glared coldly at her. Her condescending smile fell a little as I walked past her up the stairs,

"Welcome to St. Trinians" I called out into the echoing hall, another meaning hidden under the deep swirl of my welcome note;

_I hope they kill you before I do._


	4. The Same Problem

_**A/N: Late update due to lazy editing..my bad. Ready for some kel/pol people? :p **_

* * *

"You don't remember anything right Chels?"

"Nothing.. kel" I grinned and stroked the puncture mark on her shoulder

"And this?"

"Client did it" she said dreamily while her blue eyes drifted around the room. I patted her cheek satisfied and stood up.

"Good girl"

I pulled my uniform back on and bent down to the mirror, fixing my makeup and licking any excess blood off my lips before tracing over them with my crimson lipstick. Chelsea came back to herself around the same time I slipped my heels on. She looked around confused before looking down at herself half naked on the sofa. I smirked at my reflection before turning back to her.

"'Bout time you woke up, can't plan a bloody new girl stunt on my own can I?" She blinked at me.

"Where are my clothes?" I rolled my eyes.

"How should I know? I'm surprised you realise you're not wearing any to be honest"

Chelsea smiled and shrugged, standing up to admire herself in the long mirror while I sighed at her vanity. My eyes zeroed in on the bruising on her shoulder around the cut my nails had made and I pointed it out.

"How'd you do that Chels?" She looked down at it and shrugged carelessly while I breathed with relief.

"Some client bit me"

"Hope you charged him extra for it" I said twisting polly's tie around my left hand, not needing it now the cut on my wrist was fully healed. Chelsea laughed and nodded.

"What were you saying about a new girl?"

"Miss Fritton's niece has joined the school. I need you and the others to help settle her in.." She grinned and nodded, standing up to bustle past me.

"Lets go!" I snagged her elbow and pulled her back.

"Maybe with clothes on Chels?" She looked down at herself and pouted.

"Fine" I chuckled and watched her walk back to her dressing room.

"I'll meet you upstairs" I called after her, smiling when she called back an agreement and started to sing to herself.

That's something I admired about Chelsea. She'd taken on the business idea i'd set up decades ago with open arms, happily doing the job that had ruined my life centuries ago. I was bitter about it all, only ever using it all as a way of survival. And here she was so bright and optimistic, just doing it because she thought that's what all the pretty girls did. It made me wonder if humanity really was just simple yet beautiful underneath. I was still pondering this as I walked alone upstairs.

Eleanor used to say she could see the innocence of the world underneath all the hate of the bad doers. In the gentle laughter of a child, the smile of a lover, the love of a mother for her children and the sweat of a father as he worked to build his family's future. I wasn't as observant. I could only see the anger of people, the broken honesty in them. The opportunity in all of them to snap and screw you over. I guess I had no more reason to trust anymore.

"Crap! Eleanor!" I'd completely forgotten her in my 'meeting' with Chelsea. The blood lust had thrown her out right of my head in my rush to bite something other than that new Fritton girl. She'd be furious with me for leaving her locked up so long. Especially if she knew carnaby had left hours ago.

I ran up the stairs, switching to a normal pace anytime a student passed me. I was up three floors in minutes, pretending to pant from the exertion my body didn't feel anymore when I rushed up into the twins' line of vision. I approached them and bent down a little, rubbing a non existent stitch from my side while they watched me with matching smiles

"'Right kel?" They said. I laughed breathlessly and nodded, standing up straight with a sigh

"Yeah, thanks girls. She been alright?"

"Nine escape attempts" Tara sighed picking up her chair. I raised an eyebrow

"She's been quiet for a while now though" her twin added frowning at the door

"Only nine? Something must be up..." They shrugged and went on their way, stopping to hug my waist before slipping into the dorm. I frowned at my door before unlocking it, bracing myself for anything she might throw at me in her moody state.

"El?" I spotted her immediately, laid out on my bed hugging one of my pillows to her chest while she slept. I felt a warm buzz spread through me and I smiled down at her as I silently shut and locked the door.

I slipped my shoes off and put my keys down on my dresser, slowly approaching the bed with silent steps so I wouldn't wake her. She was laid with her back to the door with enough space on the bed for me to slip in beside her. Something she always did no matter where we slept. It made me smile, because it meant she'd always make room for me in her life. I gently eased myself down onto the mattress and slipped my arm under her head, sighing contently when she rolled over and nuzzled into my side. I held her close and closed my eyes, fingers playing with the silky strands of her hair while her left hand rested over my heart by her head.

"What did he want?" She mumbled, still half asleep

"Shh. Don't worry about that now. Go to sleep"

"Mother.."

"Eleanor just do as I say for once" She huffed against my throat and pulled herself up to look at me

"You'd tell me if something bad was happening, wouldn't you?" I hesitated before nodding

"Clara.."

"Eleanor please shut up, nothing bad's happened. Something good in fact" She frowned, "Miss Fritton's only gone and enrolled her niece here"

"Carnaby has a daughter?" Her eyes grew wider when I nodded, "Do you not realise what he's done?!"

"Wait calm down love.."

"He'll use her as a spy Clara! Think about it, he can't roam around here on his own but she can" she stared down at me while I thought it over. She had a point. We could hide from him but her? Eleanor's hands tightened on me and she took in a deep breath, smelling the air around us

"You've already met her.." she guessed before sniffing again, "And you've fed today...mother?!"

"I was hungry! You can't expect me to starve myself!"

"Who?!" She demanded throwing my hands off her.

I looked away, annoyed our little sweet moment was turning to ash under her glare. She gave me a waiting look and I kept my eyes down, not wanting to meet the disappointment in hers.

"Chelsea, but its okay! I didn't do it anywhere noticeable and it's a tiny mark. Nobody will notice" I hoped so anyway.

"That's not the point! You promised when you changed polly, no more biting!"

"Will you have me starve to death?!"

" You're already dead! You preach about keeping our secret but here you are going around biting whomever you wish like a common fairytale succubi! You're a hypocrite!" I felt the anger flood through me and I raised my hand to her. She flinched and I dropped it in disgust. I've never hit her before. I never would.

"El I'm sorry" I pulled her into me and hugged her tightly, "I didn't mean that. I know what I am and you're right, I'm a hypocrite. I just don't have the same strength as you. I'm weak alright? Do not begrudge me my brief respites from this nightmarish life when I cannot handle myself as well as you"

She held me tight too and I felt her tears drip softly down my neck. I kissed her head and swallowed down my guilt. I hated seeing her cry. Worse I hated feeling those tears. They fell onto my skin and reminded me bitterly of how often I let her down, of how terrible I was.

"I'm sorry mum.."

"Shh it's okay love" She relaxed back into me and sighed, letting the sound of my gentle singing calm her anger and guide her back to sleep.

* * *

We must have been there for hours, her sleeping softly on my chest while I kept her held nice and tight beside me, thinking about how I'd saved her and how I had to keep her safe from _them_. About how lucky I was to have her when I very nearly lost her, twice.

"Interrupting something?" I looked back at the door and smiled at polly

"How'd you get in here?" I whispered looking down at Eleanor asleep. Polly stepped into the room and held some keys up

"El gave them to me. She was worried you might need help one day so she gave me a spare"

My eyes grazed down my daughter's serene sleeping face. Why did she have to be so protective over me? I wasn't the one who needed looking after. Polly sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled down at us

"You have no idea how cute that looks" I rolled my eyes and kicked her

"Did you want something?" I asked kicking her again when she stared off into space. She flicked her eyes back to me and shrugged

"Thought you'd like to see new girl to her bed..." She trailed off when I looked at her unamused, "Oh not like that Kel for Christ sake! Why does your head always have to be filled with that?"

I laughed and Eleanor stirred, snapping up ready to attack. Polly dodged her punch and I gently grasped her wrist

"Cool it love, it's just Polly"

"Polly?! Why the hell are you creeping about in here in the dark?!" Polly and I both laughed and I sat up hugging her to my side again

"It's good to see your reflexes are still good" the geek grumbled flicking her collar straight. I carried on laughing and Eleanor slapped my wrist

"Ignore her" I whispered kissing her cheek once before kicking Polly off the bed so I could climb off it.

Polly was watching me closely while I straightened up and swapped my shirt for a shortsleeved one. I waited until I'd done up the third to last button before turning on her with an impatient sigh

"What?"

"Still feeling.." She glanced down at Eleanor, "off?"

"If you're asking whether she's hungry it's probably a no" Eleanor snapped jumping off the bed to stand threateningly next to the geek.

I stood back and watched them square off. Polly had a good few feet on El but that had nothing on Eleanor's murderous glare. Polly raised her hand and I almost jumped in to stop her hitting my daughter. She surprised us both by stroking El's cheek with a smile

"You are just like Kelly" she said looking back at me with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow at her and stepped up to them

"I should bloody well hope so, she's only been hanging around me for 200 years now"

Eleanor slapped Polly's hand down and shoved her back a step, a solid glare smacking us both in the face as she opened the door

"I am nothing like my mother. I am not so easily misguided like her"

"Eleanor!" She ignored my shouts for her to come back and stormed off. Polly shut the door behind her and smirked at me

"She gets her temper from you"

"Shut up polly"

"What did she mean by you being misguided?"

"I might have gone off the rails a little earlier..." Her smirk widened

"So that's where Chelsea got that bite from eh?" I grimaced and wiped a hand over my mouth with a short nod. She laughed and sat back on the bed, leaning back on her hands as she tipped her face back. I swallowed the ache in my mouth while my eyes grazed down her pale throat and kicked her foot

"What did you say about the new girl?" She shrugged

"She's been chatting with her aunt for most of the day so she hasn't seen the dorm yet. Apparently her tour guide, the head girl, walked out on her during introductions.."

"I can't be around her Pol" she sat up with an intense frown

"Why?"

"You know how Taylor is around you?" She nodded with a bitter smile

"Don't remind me. What of it?"

"New girl is like that for me"

"You found a singer?" I frowned, a what?

"Say again?" She rolled her eyes and stood up to smack my head

"A singer. Someone whose blood is especially appealing?"

"Polly how on earth do you know that?!" In all my two hundred and twenty one years of life, and unlife, I'd never once heard that term being associated with our world. How the heck did she come across it if I hadn't?

"I don't but Twilight makes an interesting read when you're immortal like us," I rolled my eyes and groaned. Of all the rubbish vampire novels out there she had to choose the crappiest one to read

"Remind me to kill Andrea for lending it to you" She laughed

"Noted. So what are you going to do about annabelle?" I shivered a little just hearing her name. I ignored the way my mouth really started to ache then and shrugged. I had no idea.

"Kel you can't pretend like its nothing"

"Why not? You do. Most of the time"

"Haven't you ever had this problem before?" I had. But I'd never had to worry about anyone else then. It was just me looking out for myself. I nodded at her and she blinked surprised

"And how did you handle it then?" She asked narrowing her eyes with an intense look. Like she expected me to say the horrible truth but half hoped I'd tell her I'd found a way to ignore the tempting pull of a singer's blood. I sighed and sat down beside her

"You already know how Polly. I didn't have any restraint back then. If someone looked nice they were dead before I had a chance to think about the consequence" she looked away disappointed and I took her hand

"I'm sorry, I really am but no matter what you do Taylor is always going to smell as great as she would taste"

"Is that why you showed me how to change? Because my blood was too much to be around?" I smiled at her, hiding the guilt.

"Partly. Mostly it was because I knew you'd make a brilliant addition to my family"

"So I was a singer?" I nodded. She had no idea how perfectly delicious she used to smell. And that had nothing against the taste of her. She was lucky Eleanor had walked in when she did really, she'd be a cold corpse six feet under otherwise.

"You were and now you're not. Time to move on"

I stepped around her and walked across the room to the door, thinking bitterly about how hard this was about to be. Why the hell did I have to be head girl?! It's like the world was just begging me to mess up again

"So I take it you don't need me tonight anymore?" I stopped by the door and smirked to myself before looking over my shoulder at her, her half disappointed voice rolling over me in little waves

"Let's not be hasty" was all I said before walking out into the corridor in time to catch a whiff of the new girl. She'd just walked into the dorm by the freshness of it.

Polly stepped up behind me when i paused and nudged me forward out of my room. She frowned at my reluctance to move before smiling

"You can't avoid her," she inhaled and sighed, "hmm she does smell nice"

I looked back at her with a frown, a weird slither of protectiveness coming over me while I squeezed polly's wrist threateningly

"Don't you dare" She grinned and pulled her hand free.

"Or what?"

"Don't forget who made you polly. I can destroy you just as easily" Her smile dropped and she stared at me, completely stunned by my threat.

"I was joking kel. She doesn't smell half as good as that bloody chav in there" I looked away from her brooding and sighed. She had a point though, I couldn't avoid annabelle. I sighed with a smile when my hearing pinpointed a commotion inside the dorm.

"Speaking of bloody chavs..." Taylor's voice rang out to us as she threatened somebody.

We both sighed, Polly more than me, probably annoyed with herself for being drawn to the girl, and made to go into the dorm. I swung my arm up and stared her down.

"No funny business" She nodded earnestly at me and pointed down the hall.

"I've got to go check some cameras anyway" I could hear the truth in her voice, spliced horribly with the eager strain to avoid Taylor. I couldn't blame her.

"Catch you later" I muttered walking off into the dorm, mentally preparing myself for it.

Annabelle was stood in front of an angry Taylor, looking down perplexed at the chav as she threatened her with slaps. I held back a little to watch them. New girl was holding her own alright against the other girl, not fighting back like she ought to for a Fritton but not backing down either. Which was just annoying Taylor more.

"Going to intervene at any point in the coming future kel?" I looked down at celia reading her book beside her hammock and shrugged.

"Just seeing where it takes us first" I mumbled, eyes fixed on Annabelle's neck while her heart started to pump a little faster with her uncertainty of the situation. Celia let out an amused sighed and flicked a page of her book.

"Waiting for gain ends only in pain" I blinked and frowned down at her. That was one of Eleanor's lines.

"So I've heard" Three thousand nine hundred and seventy three times in my immortal life. It's like she had it on tape for me for whenever I took a wrong step.

"You might wanna do something there head girl" She pointed across the room at the two girls, not needed to even look up from her book to know it was hitting a dangerous pre fisticuffs level.

I nodded. Taylor did look pretty pissed. I lazily walked over and past them, slowing down a tad to tug Annabelle's shirt.

"Leave it out Taylor, go paint your nails" I left them standing there, Taylor fuming and annabelle shocked I'd touched her, even if it was only a little brushing of skin.

I smirked a little when her footsteps followed me down the dorm, her heart racing confusingly in her chest. I was having a pretty hard time keeping myself in check. That simple light innocent touch shouldn't have happened. I should have told Taylor to back off and leave it at that. Instead I'd touched her warm skin, felt her pulse, breathed her in. It was only thinking about how disappointed Eleanor would be, and how I'd probably have to kill the entire dorm for witnessing, that prevented me from turning back and biting her. I could understand polly's struggle now. I'd forgotten how bad this was for us, having something so tempting walk around like a delicious treat you craved more than anything. If only this was the eighteenth century again it'd take no time to lure her away and kill her. Modern times called for modern techniques though. Something I was trying my damned hardest not to think too much into.

"It's Kelly right?" I turned back to her and nodded.

"Got a good memory on you"

"Are you always sarcastic?" She asked snobbishly. I crossed my arms over my chest and gave her a thoughtful smile.

"Only to the pretty girls" she blushed and I swallowed against the hungry ache in my throat before turning away.

"Right then newbie, if you manage to handle a week here you'll need to know what's what. Here we have the chavs , you've already met their head princess Taylor"

"Shu'up Kelly!" I rolled my eyes at her and pointed back at Celia as she shared another anecdote with the scowling chav.

"Ecos, our own little green warriors" Celia looked up at us and made the peace sign as a way of greeting.

"Hi" Annabelle said timidly, shyly waving back. I smiled and winked down at the Eco before turning round to the geeks as they typed away at their computers.

Polly had managed to slip in at some point and was talking a younger girl through stock market rules. My fond smile faltered slightly when i noticed polly's eyes staring at the girl's throat. i sighed.

"Got an account problem? Talk to the geeks" i said it loudly to catch polly's attention. She snapped out of her daze and looked back at us. i threw her a meaningful look before turning annabelle around to the totties.

I smiled proudly at the older girls, all busy chatting away seductively on their phones to happy paying clients. I had to hand it to them they really were brilliant coming up with the chatline. It was a much more safer method for this line of work than what I'd been doing all my life. At least here they only had to occasionally sleep with someone, and it was always by their choice. Something I'd never had the freedom to have. It was mostly teasing phone calls. Ingenious really.

Chelsea was half dressed again, model like body on full display for everyone to see while she went about her clique business, one hand fiddling with her blonde locks, the other brushing the bluetooth headset in her ear as she giggled coyly down the line at her client. Annabelle looked simply stunned. I had to smile, too innocent.

"Posh Totties" I told annabelle, waving in at them as we passed, "all claimed to have slept with one of the royal family"

I barely noticed her look of surprise with that nugget of information. I was much too busy watching Chelsea study the new girl, eyes grazing over her body with a calculative smile she gave all the newbies. It was her search for a potential totty. She caught my eyes and smiled, nodding back at annabelle. I shrugged. If they wanted her in their tribe that was their decision. Personally I couldn't see her even fitting in with the geeks. She either lacked a personality or she was hiding it. Chelsea turned around to talk to one of the other Totties and my eyes landed on the bite mark on her shoulder.

"What about them? Are they asleep already?" I ran my tongue out over my teeth, licking the ache down while I pulled my eyes away from Chelsea's skin to the dark sleeping area across the room annabelle was pointing at. We walked past a few girls draped entirely in black, huddled in a circle chanting something quietly between themselves. Annabelle frowned before looking away.

"Goths?" Andrea cut in before I could quickly correct her.

"We're not goths we're Emo"

I rolled my eyes and steered annabelle away before she could question it out with the girl. She looked completely lost when she asked me what an emo was. I sighed, where the hell did this one come from?!

"Emo-tionally unstable?" I left it at that and walked towards my favourite group.

"First years. Borchester's answer to the Sopranos" I announced proudly waving in at the twins glaring menacingly back. She didn't look all that interested. More fool her. She should be extremely weary of the twins and their girls. Explosive only just began covering the things their minds could come up with.

"Here's you" I told her pointing at the lone bed beside the first year crib. She eyed it warily before sitting down on the mattress, looking around with timid darting eyes.

I was taking the moment to look her over, taking in that brilliant figure again before settling my eyes on her tempting throat, catching the soft bump of her pulse nudging the skin covering her main artery there. She was pretty nervous, and uncertain. But you didn't need to look at her to know that. I could hear it in her heart beat, read it in her body language. Hell I could even smell it radiating out of her. She was that wound up I bet even polly could sense it from down the dorm.

I could feel myself staring and forced my eyes off her, crossing my arms over when my hands started to shake a little from the effort of staying put. I looked back at the other girls, smiling a little at all their smirking evaluations of the new girl before settling my eyes on polly. She must've read the hunger building behind my gaze because she left her girls and started to make her way over.

"What're they betting on?" I frowned at the question. Polly was pointing next to me at newbie and I snapped my attention back to annabelle, following her question over to the first year bookies. I kept my face blank when I turned back to her.

"How long you'll last"

She stared up at me, trying to measure the dead truth in my voice while it rained back at her in a dead icy tone. She probably thought I was being sarcastic again, maybe even a little playful. I was dead serious though. A trinian girl never places a bet unless she's dead certain on the outcome, and that board screamed it all. One glance at it had me holding back a laugh. One day seemed like the popular choice tonight. Maybe I should place my own wager. I think she had it in her to at least go two days, maybe three. That mental Fritton blood was in there somewhere.

"_Kel you're staring at her neck again, and if you don't move you're going to be part of their prank_" I blinked at pollys whisper and looked up above the bed at the bucket balanced over Fritton's head.

I inched back a little, so fast nobody would have noticed even if they were watching me, and looked down at the first years with the pull string waiting for my permission. I smiled at them and they grinned wickedly back and yanked on the rope. The dorm erupted into laughter at her yelp as the green goo splashed over her head and shoulders. She glared up at me and I tried to hide my own laughter behind my hand, glad the sludge had managed to cover her scent. Maybe I could get the girls to come up with some sort of permanent perfume that could do that. It was worth a try. Not like polly wouldn't be up to trying it.

"You knew they were going to do that!" I raised my eyebrows at her , laughing again when the pillow came down and smacked her in the face.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just here to show your arse around school. If you walk into a bucket of crap how am I to blame?" She frowned at me as I spoke and I realised a little too late that my intonation was all over the place. I pulled myself into focusing and shrugged at her,

"Maybe you should be more careful"

"Maybe you should warn people you're in charge of a school of lunatics!"

The dorm fell silent, all eyes on me as I took a dangerous step forward, catching small hints of her scent drift towards me with her anger. I bent down to her, looking over her shoulder at the wall because I knew I'd do something stupid if I looked at her skin. I took a deep breath and felt her tremble a little, already aware of the danger she'd just walked into.

"You've got quite the temper on you. You might be Miss Fritton's niece but don't think that'll stop me, or them, from beating some sense into you for it"

_"Mother!"_ I ignored Eleanor's silent whisper and polly's snigger and carried on

"I think you should go wash that stuff off chicken, before you start to stink up the place " i said that bit louder and the girls sniggered around us.

Annabelle stood up and shoved past me, looking down at our hands when they brushed. Eleanor was saying something but I couldn't hear anything besides that heartbeat as it took up another refreshed frantic pace under my touch. She started to walk again just as I started leaned in. Annabelle quickly rushed out of the dorm and I very nearly followed her. I stared down at the space of air she'd just abandoned, thinking longingly of that pulse and that neck and that blood.

"Okay girls prank number two, chop chop!"

Polly's hand touched my back, a friendly enough gesture the others would be suspicious of. But for me it was a warning. She stretched up to my ear with a small sigh

"I think fresh air would help here" she flinched a little when my head snapped around to her and I gave her a questioning smile. She rolled her eyes

"You were about to do it kel. C'mon. Sooner we get you away from her scent the better"

I let her guide me down to the geek area, the safest spot in the room by far. Geeks were okay but all that stressing over tests and experiments turned their blood a strange flavour I didn't have an appetite for. Polly was the only exception really. Since her I hadn't touched a geek, going instead for the more few discreet victims, like the totty and especially the emo's, which i think relieved polly more than anything.

Eleanor drifted over after polly had sat me down in her desk chair, a look of outright anger burning in her blue eyes. I sighed and leant back in the chair, eyes closed as I braced myself for it.

"What were you thinking?!" she hissed as soon as she reached polly's desk. I smiled.

"Hello Kelly, how are you Kelly? My, what a wonderful day it's been.."

"Oh shut up and grow up!" I laughed at her.

"Chill out El. It was a bit of harmless fun"

"Harmless fun?! Do you realise what you were doing? The entire dorm was watching Kelly!" I shrugged, completely uncaring. I could hear her breathing deeply to herself, angry as hell with me. I couldn't help but smile some more.

"So I had a tiny lapse in control, so what? You make it sound like I murdered her on the spot"

"You might as well have done for all the good it's done us" I opened my eyes and looked up at her with a smile. She was far too argumentative. Another thing she'd inherited from me.

"Sweetheart please go away and take your paranoia with you. You're pulling a damper on my mood"

She opened her mouth to retaliate but was thrown down when polly announced the next trick was ready. I flashed Eleanor a smirk and stood up. She swatted my hand away when I patted her shoulder and stormed out of the dorm, unwilling as ever to take part in the girls' welcoming pranks.

"Right girls we're live on YouTube"

I walked up behind polly at the main computer and crossed my arms over my chest, smiling when I recognised the old shower gag. I squeezed polly's shoulder and saw her smile reflect in the computer screen before she tapped a command into the keypad and sat back waiting. The other girls rushed to get a good spot and sat down with eager grins.

"Time to see what she's made of" I said running a hand over my mouth as the CCTV feed snapped into action

"_Are we talking her as in personality_ o_r her as in a dinner choice mother?"_ I ignored Eleanor. I wasn't sure where she was but she had to be close if she was keeping tabs on me. I cut my eyes up at the ceiling when i heard the tinkling of glass and smirked. Definitely on the roof.

I didn't answer her. Instead I focused on the screen with her question rolling around in my head.

* * *

The prank was brilliant. The girls really outdone themselves this time. Annabelle had surprised us all. She'd braved the cold corridors and ran stark naked for the dorm. I couldn't help but stare at the screen when she knocked herself out on the door. I was wrong about her body. It wasn't just beautiful. It was hypnotic, tantalising, angelic. It worried me how biting her was the lesser of my concerns when it came to thoughts of her skin. I didn't want to just bite her, I wanted to consume her entirely.

I met polly's amused smile in the computer screen and she flicked the feed off. The girls groaned disappointed before wandering off chatting happily about the new girl and all the other pranks they had lined up for her. I stayed behind polly, staring at the black screen while my throat burned. I wanted to bite something and I wanted it now. My ears picked up bits of the other girls' conversations and I licked my lips at the thought of biting one of them.

"Kel?" Polly had turned around in her seat and was looking up at me concerned, hand rising to touch my wrist. She jumped when I grabbed her arm and hauled her out of the room

"We need to get out of here" I told her leading her down the stairs towards the old classrooms nobody used anymore.

"What about Fritton?" I could feel my eyes burn with want and I could barely breathe against the ache in my throat when she said her name.

"She's not likely to be going anywhere anytime soon" I tugged polly down another set of stairs towards the old cellar only us vampires were old enough to remember. Polly sighed behind me, annoyed I was taking us this far away from the others. Really you'd think she'd be happy I was being over cautious for once.

"Kel I honestly don't think.." I span around and pulled her into me, kissing her madly as I walked backwards into the same old dusty room I'd led her down when I'd first bitten her. I felt her tremble a little. Whether from the drop in temperature or the bittersweet memory that echoed in these walls I didn't know. Her grip tightened on me a little and she let out a sharp gasp.

"Kel.." I looked down at her, reading the discomfort in her eyes while they took in our surroundings. They settled on the table in the corner and she was trembling a little under my hands.

"Pol" She was breathing heavy and I gently shook her, "Pol look at me" She did and I smiled at her, softly stroking her cheek.

"It's okay. Calm down love" She took a few uneven breaths and looked back into the corner. I tilted her face back to me, catching her attention fully.

"No looking back right?" It was our safety net. If things went wrong, which was quite often where I was concerned, we'd tell each other to keep our eyes forward, to not look back at our mistakes and regret them. It bound us together and kept us going. Polly calmed down and nodded.

"Right" she still looked worn and fragile. Something I hated seeing in either of my girls. They should be vibrant and youthful, full to the brim with strength and courage. Yet they continued to cling to their weak humanity.

I sighed and pulled her over to an old desk, forcing her to sit down beside me facing the corner of the room where I'd sank my teeth into her and dragged her to within an inch of her life.

"Do you regret following me that day?" I asked, genuinely interested to know what was running through her head right now. Polly took my hand and squeezed my fingers with a brave smile

"Of course not. I got you and Eleanor out of it" her eyes flicked to the corner again, "it just scares me how long ago it was. Looking over there hurts"

I winced when she said that because it was my fault it hurt, and i pulled her against me. She let me tuck her up against my chest and run a soothing hand down her back. She sighed and leant across my chest to rest her head against my right shoulder, showing me the bite mark again. I stared down at it wishing I could remove it from her skin, wishing I could turn back time and stop myself from biting her. Because all I'd done was steal away her bright future and given her a dark daily struggle for existence in exchange. She was such a smart kid she could have done anything, be a scientist, become an astronaut. Hell she could have been ruling the world right now if only I'd had the willpower to stay away from her in the first place. It made me sick knowing I'd taken that from her.

Polly cut over my thoughts with another heavy breath

"Do you regret doing it?" I closed my eyes and bent down to her neck, softly kissing the teeth prints

"Sometimes"

"You do have a heart then" I laughed and playfully nipped her ear

"only once in a blue moon. You'll find it's very much dead the rest of the time"

"Now that I can believe" she muttered and I laughed again. I bent back down to her neck, brushing my mouth over it while she leant closer into me with a content sigh.

"kel?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't just want to bite her do you?" My arms tightened around her and that old burn caught fire in my mouth again.

"Hmm"

"That's not an answer" I smiled and kissed her scar again before moving back to look down at her

"You're too smart polly" she laughed and brushed her own mouth across my collarbone

"So I've heard" I was watching her smile up at me, slowly tracing her mouth up when a thought came to me

"Taylor.." She froze and groaned into my throat

"Please don't"

"You fancy her don't you?" She hid her face into my neck and I laughed. Poor little polly.

"Shut up Kelly" she pleaded smacking my shoulder. I trapped her hand against my skin and bent down to her ear

"Make me" I whispered, letting my voice drop right down into the sexy tone I'd perfected over a century ago. It brought out just the reaction I'd been searching for. Polly's eyes slipped up to mine while her right hand tiptoed up my arm

"Is that a challenge jones?" I shook my head and threw her a smirk before bending down to her mouth

"invitation" I kissed her, letting everything that had made me rush down here creep back to the surface under her mouth. I really loved the way that geek kissed. It was perfect and precise, right down to the last detail, unsurprising considering who it was. Polly's hands came up to my neck while mine dropped to her waist as I twisted around to face her completely.

"I think I'd like to RSVP that invite" she gasped while my lips pressed down into her throat.

"Yeah? What's your answer?" My hand was slipping down again, creeping up her left thigh and slipping underneath her skirt. I didn't bother waiting for permission, that was beneath me, instead I went straight for the answer. She gasped again under my touch and pressed her nails into the back of my neck

"yes! Bloody yes!" I laughed when she twisted around to climb up onto my lap, and wrapped an arm around her back. I met her urgent kiss with my own hungry one and smiled while her hands tangled through my hair and pulled me closer. Polly arched back when my mouth moved down over her chin and throat to her chest, completely forgetting I was the only thing holding her up. She yelped and I laughed as she fell backward off my legs and pulled me off the table with her. We landed on the cold hard floor and laughed together before getting back to work.

I could taste blood, feel it working through my veins as I bit into polly's shoulder while I pushed her higher. I always loved sleeping with her. Everything was so raw and wild yet so calm and measured at the same time. All the beauty of the vicious vampire mixed in with the serenity of the genius geek. She was just beautiful, inside and out. A rarity in a place as crazy as this. Even as a human she'd been a fantastic lay. I had a feeling it had something to do with all those books she read. Even geeks needed some sort of sexual outlet.

She gasped and groaned, squeezed and pushed, pulling herself and me higher on that wave she was surfing while I tagged along for the ride. Her voice grew louder the harder I pressed until she was screaming out beneath me. She could have pushed me over and taken top, it wasn't like she didn't have the strength now, but polly stayed down, too busy enjoying it all to get rough. But that didn't stop me trying to get her to play.

I scratched and bit her skin, trying to pull every arch of her lithe body into fighting back. Apparently even that wasn't enough to make her react. So I tried a different approach and rolled us, forcing her to take the lead. She looked down at me and groaned, annoyed I'd stopped when she was getting so high.

"Kel.." She was whimpering a little and I grinned as I leant up to her. My hands skimmed up the back of her thighs and gently eased her into sitting over my waist while my mouth brushed hers, smearing her lips with the leftover blood on mine. I laughed quietly against her mouth and let her lick the blood off our lips before raising a hand to cup her face

"Humour me" I told her dropping a new kiss on her lips while she shivered delicately under my voice.


End file.
